Access to scholarly literature via a free knowledge management enabler: an opportunity for scientists in developing countries

Resumen

An overview of the goals and achievements of the electronic Journals Delivery Service (eJDS), provided freely to scientists in developing countries by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) is presented. The implementation of eJDS, based on low-cost and open source software, is a concrete example of how one might reach a world-wide community whose access to scientific literature is otherwise limited. The effort has been made possible by the generous collaboration of publishing companies and scientific societies that donate the electronic contents of their periodicals in Physics and Mathematics. eJDS can also be seen as a Knowledge Management Enabler that attempts to manage the identification and accumulation of knowledge or intellectual capital of the developing world. A larger eJDS usage from countries with the lowest DAI (Digital Access Index), consistent with the digital and knowledge divides that exists today, is reported.